1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bill handling device that is installed in an amusement arcade where Pachinko gaming machines, slot machines and the like (hereinafter referred to as “game machine”) are installed and that can be disposed in between game machines.
2. Description of the Related Art
An amusement arcade such as a Pachinko parlor generally has an area (also referred to as “bank”) where a large number of game machines are installed, and for players convenience, in between adjacent game machines is installed a vertically long game medium dispensing device (also referred to as “sandwich device”) for dispensing pachinko balls or coins (game mediums). The game medium dispensing device is mounted on a frame fixed in between the game machines. When the game medium dispensing device receives a bill, coin, prepaid card or the like through a corresponding insertion slot, the device itself dispenses game mediums or sends the game machine a signal prompting it to dispense game mediums. For example, the game medium dispensing device may be a bill handling device capable of handling bills that includes a bill discriminator for discriminating an inserted bill and a bill container (repository) for storing bills validated in the bill discriminator.
In the above described bill handling device that handles cash, various safety measures are taken to prevent a malicious individual from removing bills themselves or the bill container for storing bills. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-318481 discloses an anti-removal mechanism for preventing a unit with a bill insertion slot from being removed from a frame body that acts as an exterior member and therefore providing improved security.
However, preventing the actual removal of the unit with a bill insertion slot from the frame body may not be enough, because bills themselves may be removed from the unit in a malicious manner. For example, when the anti-removal mechanism is defeated and the unit is not protected from being removed through the front opening of the frame body, the bills are conceivably removed directly from the unit through the front opening in some way. It is desired to enhance security as malicious acts have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years.